fathom

QUOTE (Heads22 @ May 24, 2014 -> 01:38 AM) Let's get at least another run this inning. That pitch PK missed was a foot outside.

Anderson doubled his walk total on the year.

Damn, thought that was gone

Considering how horrible Danks is, it's too bad they are going forward with Nieto as his personal catcher. Would make a lot more sense for Nieto to play tonight and Flowers to face the LHP tomorrow.

QUOTE (raBBit @ May 24, 2014 -> 01:51 AM) De Aza's swing is just in a bad place. Hips sliding forward, hands committing early and his swing, somehow, still coming late. He seems to swinging not to strike out. I think he will get replaced rather soon

Noesi good inning

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ May 24, 2014 -> 12:32 AM) Paulino continues to suck lol. They might as well try to make him a reliever

Eaton stole that run

QUOTE (Andy the Clown @ May 24, 2014 -> 01:29 AM) Good Lord. We only have two decent starting pitchers in the entire organization. Save us Rodon

Shockingly bad crowd considering it's a firework game

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ May 24, 2014 -> 01:27 AM) Messing around on play finder on BRef found like 20 guys in history that had given up 35 or more HR in between 200 and 220 innings. He's historically bad. Almost all the other guys were guys that had a bad year but otherwise were solid MLB pitchers. Don't forget a lot of those innings came in a huge pitcher's park.

They need to split up Noesi and Danks in the rotation.

I'm pretty sure this ump is blind

No way do you try to make Petricka and Webb starters.

I wonder where his ERA and W/L record rank among the worst in baseball history over 200 innings

Release him, and bring in Esmil Rogers as a long reliever.

QUOTE (beautox @ May 23, 2014 -> 09:38 PM) Doubt it, Sox will likely have 4 possibly 5 top 100 prospects. For this conversation lets say we draft Rodon or Aiken, they'll most likely slot around 14-18, Hawkins provided he doesn't fall off a cliff again should rank in a similar spot as last time (#68), Davidson provided he keeps up his hot streak should remain where he was last year around possibly a little further down #68, Micah should slot around 75-80ish based off where 2B prospects tend to land and the fact only Mookie and Odor are actually ahead of him and performing right now and Tim Anderson even with his rawness should be around 93-100. So thats potentially 5 top 100 prospects. Please tell me how I'm crazy. I'm a fan of Micah Johnson, but I've yet to see any prospect guru say he's a top 100 guy. I also think not having big time steal numbers this year will prevent him from getting more hype. Davidson's going to have to go on a big time hot streak to get his numbers to be worthy of a top 100 ranking as well. As for Hawkins, I just have a feeling that enough gurus think his hit tool is so awful that they won't rank him. Montas has a better shot of being ranked than Hawkins or Johnson.

QUOTE (flavum @ May 23, 2014 -> 09:02 PM) I want Aiken to be there and the Sox to take him. After that, I think I want Nola at a discount. Rodon and Kolek both really scare me. Rodon because he may be overrated, and Kolek because of the youth/power combo--will the elbow blow out fast and can he throw a mix of pitches for strikes. It's an interesting year. So--Aiken, Nola, Rodon. And with that--I'm sure we'll have a good laugh at all of this a couple years from now. For my sanity, hopefully we get a better player than the Cubs

Board survey time....who is your wish list for the 3rd pick? Fathom's Sure To Be Wrong Wish List (I was against drafting Wacha and Trout, but loved the Beckham pick) 1. Rodon 2. Nola 3. Aiken

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 23, 2014 -> 09:24 PM) *gulp* EDIT: referring to passing on Aiken for Nola At this point, I would be surprised if they took Aiken over Nola. I just noticed how bad Trey Ball has been this season, which is a lefty high school pitcher that supposedly were interested in last year.

QUOTE (beautox @ May 23, 2014 -> 06:45 PM) I agree, the sox system coming into this season was some where between 19-23rd overall depending on who you read and what you value but regardless this system has graduated a ton of its top talent and the majority of the remaining top 100ish guys (Davidson and Anderson) haven't gotten off to great starts. On the flip side Hawkins appears to have taken last year in stride and could conceivably wind up around 50ish going into the 100 list next year if he keeps it up. In addition to that we have a few more positives in our system: Ravelo attempting to establish himself as a real prospect at 1B, the growth of Danish and Montas. Fangraphs had a nice piece on why prospects like Semien don't usually get rated as top 100 'specs a while ago but i can't seem to find it: essentially saying that because their performance and ascension is cross level and are often looked at as major league ready, combined with good but not great tools they tend to be underrated and understated in top 100 lists. As for his performance its not a "easy fix" per se but his problem as discussed in the other forum is essentially just being a rookie hitter, his plate discipline is + he works himself into great counts but then he leaves the bat on his shoulder when he should (and can) make contact with pitches that are strikes. After this draft and trade deadline it wouldn't surprise me in the least to see the sox system in the 10-15 range, possibly as high as 8. Unless the Sox start trading guys like Sale or Quintana, it seems impossible to me that they'd rise that high in the rankings. Adding someone like Kolek or Nola would only give them 2 likely top 100 prospects (I don't think Hawkins will be a top 100 guy, as too many "experts" seem to think he has too many holes).

Law went on to say that Nola might have 70 fastball command right now, and wouldn't be a bad pick at 3.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 23, 2014 -> 05:35 PM) You went off the rails here. The system graduated around a third of it's top 25 prospects, without any new blood from the June draft, the July Int'l signings, or any trades. Of course it feels more empty - IT IS. Yeah, Beck and Thompson disappointing are also factors - but then there are guys like Micah, Danish and (to an extent) Hawkins doing well, and some pop-up guys like Montas and Ravelo. Semien hasn't been much of a disappointment at all, he's done OK and barely had a chance yet - and he was never a T100 type guy, for most people. EJ is the biggest disappointment, and he's a puzzle to me. They are still very much developing though. If this system was 30th (or 29th) in baseball a couple years ago, and got up to say 20-25 range going into this season, it should be no surprise it fell back now. Did it fall back to the very bottom? Hard to say, probably not though. But if you want to talk about Buddy Bell's job, you have to compare apples to apples. See where it stands in January this coming offseason. A lot of the new LatAm development in the past year or two will take another year or two to really come to fruition. There was no bigger fan of Semien on this site than me last year, but his ridiculous contact issues seem to have come out of nowhere. You don't want to see him become another Josh Fields, where the player can't make the most out of their ability due to not being able to make contact. The strike out rates for far too many players in this system are ridiculous (Davidson, Anderson, Thompson, Hawkins, Trey M., Barnum). Buddy Bell has been with the Sox since 2009, and it doesn't seem like there has been any improvement in the system and the players don't seem prepared even when they do make the majors.

1. T. Anderson 2. M. Johnson 3. C. Hawkins 4. T. Danish 5. M. Davidson 6. F. Montas 7. R. Ravelo 8. T. Michalczewski 9. C. Beck 10. T. Thompson From that list, only Anderson has a chance to be ranked in the top 100 in all of baseball, and that's more due to preseason hype than his actual performance. As I'm sure you've seen me mention, this has been a disappointing first few months for a majority of the prospects. I'm really not sure how Buddy Bell has kept his job, especially with the awful performances by Semien and E. Johnson.

QUOTE (raBBit @ May 23, 2014 -> 06:21 PM) Hypothetically, if on opening day 2015 we have a 3B-2B-LF combination of Gillaspie-Johnson-Eaton, could anyone say there wouldn't be a spot for Semien to play at least 2-3 times a week? Great point, especially with how weak all 3 of those main guys are against LHP.